The test began in silence.
No weapons. No masks. No breach.
Just time.
At 06:00 sharp, Hernan entered the gym like always. Same route. Same posture. He scanned in with the same biometric glove, nodded to the same wall camera, and walked past the same three interns bench-pressing out of sync.
Every part of it looked normal.
Except this time, he didn't leave at 06:43.
He stayed.
Until 06:46.
Exactly three minutes longer.
He didn't lift more weight. Didn't run harder. Just sat at the rowing machine, breathing calmly, watching the ceiling through the mirror. No one spoke to him. No one asked.
But a ripple had been sent.
Three minutes was nothing in human time.
But in surveillance?
It was a flare.
From there, the games began.
